


I'm Still Waiting On Your Sunshine

by Ithinkwehaveanemergency



Series: Whole Damn World Is A Cage [1]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Dani ships Brightmel, Flirting, Friendship, Malcolm Bright is a shameless flirt, Multi, Pre-Relationship, Sexual Orientation, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-26 10:40:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21372799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ithinkwehaveanemergency/pseuds/Ithinkwehaveanemergency
Summary: Dani follows his line of sight and sees JT laughing.  He seems to be bragging to Gil about a shot he's just made in their game of pool.  JT's face is alight with joy in a way it seldom is, Dani turns back to Bright and arches an eyebrow.  He must feel her gaze, because he turns to face her and goes a bit pink at being caught looking undeniably fond."You into him?"  Dani tries to fight the smug smile that creeps onto her face.OrA short conversation between two people about their growing friendship and not being quite ready to talk about their own personal, complicated love lives.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright/JT Tarmel
Series: Whole Damn World Is A Cage [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1545973
Comments: 12
Kudos: 144





	I'm Still Waiting On Your Sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> I have taken liberties with assigning sexual orientation and romantic status to different characters here based on plot device. This is just a fic that is quite OOC but its a little headcanon that wouldn't leave me alone.
> 
> I've added a pairing because its written as more of a Malcolm/Everyone kind of drabble, but it is now a start to a canon-divergent series where Malcolm develops real romantic feelings for JT.

Dani holds the neck of her Stella Artois loosely with three fingers and looks at her coworker.

Malcolm's eyes are filled with mirth as he watches the other side of the room. His lips linger on the rim of his glass and he smiles as he takes a small sip.

Dani follows his line of sight and sees JT laughing. He seems to be bragging to Gil about a shot he's just made in their game of pool. JT's face is alight with joy in a way it seldom is, Dani turns back to Bright and arches an eyebrow. He must feel her gaze, because he turns to face her and goes a bit pink at being caught looking undeniably  _ fond _ .

"You into him?" Dani tries to fight the smug smile that creeps onto her face.

Judging by the shocked snort Bright lets out, she does a bad job.

"Me? Into-" Bright snorts again then raises his eyebrows and levels her with a serious look. "No, I just... I'm not. Okay? No."

"Uh huh." Dani looks at him, unsure about the reason for the insistent protest at the accusation, and he must pick up on that too, because he's instantly shaking his head and putting his empty glass down.

"No, I'm not-" Bright laughs and puts his hands up. 'I'm not in denial of my sexuality, thats not why I said that. JT is great. So great. Very aware of how handsome he is, and I'm not at all afraid to admit it."

"So you  _ are _ into guys." Dani nods and takes a short pull of her beer before sending the unsure look his way again. "Just not JT, who you flirt with  _ frequently _ ."

"I'm fairly equal opportunity, though my experience is far less in the  _ male on male _ world of romantic or sexual relationships." Bright shrugs. He narrows his eyes as he picks up the latter half of her statement. "I do  _ not _ flirt with him frequently."

"Oh yeah you do." Dani scoffs. "You flirt with everything that moves, Bright. But  _ especially _ JT."

"You're exaggerating."

"He's single, y'know." Dani ignores his protest and mumbles innocently into the rim of her beer. She raises her eyebrows mid-sip and meets Malcolm's wide amused ones. "And  _ gay _ ."

"No…  _ nonono _ ." Malcom chuckles softly and rattles the ice cubes around in his nearly empty soda water. "Honestly. I, uh… I'm really,  _ really _ sure that's a very bad idea."

Dani cocks her head at Bright and takes in his lack of discomfort, noticing that he's more clearly entertained by the whole conversation.

"Wait a second. I can't believe I didn't notice…" Dani trails off. She blinks at him as he cocks his head in confusion. "Why you never do anything about Edrisa's blatantly obvious, and admittedly adorable, awkward thirst for your  _ slender _ ass."

Dani tries and fails to keep a snort in. She looks back to the table where Gil and JT are now arguing over the pool table with grand gestures.

Malcolm's eyes roll as he throws back his head, and despite his attempt at dismissing the teasing, he lets a full grin fall across his features.

"Oh my god, you love it, don't you?" Dani gasps. She puts her hand down with a solid impact on the bar between them and leans closer. "You little dork, you just adore the attention! And  _ that's _ what all the flirting with JT is about. You want  _ his _ attention  _ too!  _ The way he always squirms at your teasing and scoffs at you. Oh my  _ god _ , Bright, I thought you were just pulling his leg, but you  _ love it _ ."

"Sshhh." Malcolm laughs. "I don't mean any harm by it, c'mon. They're attractive people. I enjoy flirting. I can't help my playful nature."

He shrugs innocently as Dani gapes at him in awe.

"And you just take none of it seriously, huh?" She shakes her head and picks up her beer.  She downs the last of it and when her eyes return to Bright, he's wearing a fierce, smoldering look as he stares into her eyes. She's not used to seeing something so predatory directed at herself from this endearing mess of a human being, and it makes her freeze.

"Maybe I do for the right person. What about you?" He leans closer than he had before and speaks low enough for her to feel it in her bones. "Are  _ you _ single?"

"Bright-"

"Relax, Dani." The man huffs out, his intense gaze instantly melting into a soft, sympathetic smile. "I'm just messing with you. Living up to your earlier assessment of my character. I'm not exactly the kind of person who looks for a _'right person.' _Or _anyone, actually._ Anyway... I'm a profiler. I can tell you aren't available. At least, not  _ really _ ."

Dani exhales a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She thinks about what in her behavior could have given away how tightly she has her heart locked away for someone who isn't even here anymore. She wants to ask Bright why, her curiosity almost winning out over the pain she feels in her chest.

Instead, she bites her lip and stares down at her hands.

"And you don't have to talk about it. But if you want?" Bright leans in closer and she looks up into his sad smile. "I'm here for you if you need to talk about whoever it is that makes your face do  _ that _ . The criticism, the snark? I can turn it off. At least… I could for you."

Dani huffs, exasperated, and kicks weakly to the side at his barstool, missing completely, but getting the point across.

"Not today, Bright. We're having a nice time. Team bonding or whatever Gil called it." She waves for the bartender. "Want a shot?"

"Yeah, alright, I'll do one-  _ just one _ \- on the condition that you call me Malcolm. I think we're at the first name stage here, don't you?" He squints and gives her a questioning grin. "And then we'll go over there and break up the fight that's been going on for the past three minutes."

Malcolm tilts his head toward their teammates who haven't stopped arguing and gesturing to the colorful balls spread across the pool table. Just as they look over, Gil goes to line up a shot and is stopped by his young, intimidating Detective. JT points enthusiastically at one of the pockets of the table, his brow flying up to his hairline as he explains something to an unimpressed Gil. Gil waves a dismissing hand and reaches for his drink on the hightop against the wall.

Dani snorts out a laugh and turns to flag down the pretty blonde bartender. She orders two shots, a beer, and another soda water for Malcolm.

She already knows a lot more than most people about the quirky son-of-a-serial-killer, but Dani Powell finds herself learning more and more about him with every passing day.

And the more she knows, the more she cares.

She passes one of the shots to the man next to her. They face each other, their knees knocking together as Malcolm grins at her. She thinks that m aybe, _just maybe,_ it's about time she started opening herself up to care about someone again.

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this fic is from the song, "We Can Be Friends" by Francis and the Lights.


End file.
